Intro To Rain For Difficult Emotions

RAIN is a mindfulness tool we can use to deal with difficult emotions or challenging situations. The acronym stands for [R]ecognize, [A]llow, [I]nvestigate, and [N]urture. In this practice, we slow down how we are relating to our emotions, creating space to be with the emotion and hold it with compassion. This practice can be supportive in the moment of an emotional reaction, or if you want to skillfully return to and work through an emotional situation in the past.

Transcript

This guided meditation is an introduction to the practice of RAIN, Which is a mindfulness technique in being with difficult emotions or challenging situations in our lives. And so I will walk you through the four main phases of the RAIN meditation, Which is recognize, Allow, Investigate, And nurture. And nurture. So to begin, I invite you to find a comfortable position, Whether that's seated or lying down, It doesn't matter. Just whatever feels most inviting and comfortable to you in this moment. And if you're seated, You might find a nice long spine and bring in a sense of openness to the chest area. Let your arms rest easefully in your lap. And if you're lying down, You might bring your arms along your sides with your palms facing up if that feels comfortable. You might let your feet fall away from one another. And we will start by taking a few deep breaths together to relax through the body. So start by letting out all the air you currently hold in the body. And then take a deep inhale through the nose to expand the belly, Expand the chest. And a slow exhale through the nose to soften, Relax. Again, A deep inhale, Feeling the lungs as they expand. And a slow exhale through the nose, Letting go. Again, A deep inhale. And a slow exhale to soften through the body. And then you can let your breath return to its natural rhythm. And you might bring a hand to the belly and another hand to the heart space if that feels supportive for you. And just tuning into the sense of pressure and warmth from your hands. And as you rest with these sensations and with your breath, Just feel your body sinking deeper and deeper into the surface below you. And as you rest, Feel supported. And with each breath, Just feel the sense of spaciousness and softness that this invites into the body. You might bring a sense of softness into the forehead and the brow. And letting that spread into the temples and around the eyes, Down into the cheeks and the jaw. Letting the tip of your tongue fall away from the roof of your mouth. And relaxing the tongue all the way down to the root. And feel your shoulders softening. Let there be a heaviness and a sense of spaciousness in your abdomen, In your pelvic region. And sense into the length and the volume of your legs. Letting your awareness drift all the way down into your feet. And now bring your awareness into the heart space. If your hand is on your heart, Again, Just sensing into the pressure and the warmth. And you might imagine a smile filling this area. This isn't to cover over anything, But just to bring a sense of acceptance into this area, An allowance for whatever's here. And now take a moment to bring to mind a situation, Maybe a recent situation, That brought up some challenging emotions for you. So this might be a disagreement or an argument with a loved one. Or maybe some sort of conflict at work. Or maybe it's more of a conflict with yourself and the feelings that come up when you get trapped in certain inner narratives that might feel difficult. So whatever it is, Just try to bring the situation to mind as clearly as you can. So noticing the other people who might be involved, Bringing yourself into the environment, Imagining what the surrounding area looks like. And maybe just becoming particularly aware of the moment that brought up the emotions. Maybe it was something that was said or a certain facial expression, Or something that was done. And as you bring this to mind, Just hold it here in your heart space. The first step in RAIN is to recognize. And so with this situation, Just take a moment to recognize what it is that you're feeling and try to do so as objectively as possible to try to keep yourself from following any narratives or judgment that comes up. For example, You may say to yourself, I'm experiencing a moment of anxiety. Or I feel angry. Or I feel sad. And if you're not quite sure, That's okay. Just noticing that. And the A of RAIN is to allow. So just welcome in a sense of allowance for whatever you're feeling. This doesn't mean that you like it or that you want it to be happening, But just that you're recognizing that this is happening. Creating some space for it to be here for now. And in the I of RAIN, We investigate. And we become a little bit more curious about what our experience is right now. So we begin by tuning into sensations in the body that may be associated with this emotion that we're experiencing. So for example, You might feel a sense of tightness in the chest or a sense of closing in the throat. Maybe there's pressure and constricting in the forehead or in the jaw. Maybe you feel a certain temperature, Warmth or coolness in a particular area of the body. Just notice how the body responds with the situation. And from here, You might expand your investigation to inquire if there might be something that you're believing about yourself in this moment. Or maybe there's some sort of unmet need here, Maybe a need to just be loved or to be understood, To be listened to or to be respected. It might help to ask yourself, What part of this most wants my attention? Or if the emotion or hurt part of me had a voice, What might it say? So we're just becoming curious, Like a good friend might do if we were really struggling. And lastly, The N of RAIN is nurture. So you might begin to tune into your higher self or the sense of wisdom within yourself. Or maybe you visualize a person in your life that you trust, A person that really embodies a sense of love and kindness in your life. It might help to invite in a posture in the body that evokes compassion and love. And you might explore offering yourself a sense of compassion from the wisest and most compassionate part of you. Or again, If this feels difficult, You might invite in a posture of compassion or if this feels difficult, You might imagine another person in your life offering you this compassion, A sense of support. It might help to mentally say to yourself phrases like, I'm here for you, Or I care about this pain and I love you. Or I'm sorry you're going through this. You might visualize yourself surrounded by a warm, Luminous light. Or you might visualize a pet offering its unconditional love. And for this moment, Just allow yourself to be held in these kind words, In this compassion and support. Seeing if you can really invite it in. And the last part of RAIN is called After the RAIN. And in this space, We just continue to allow ourselves to be with this sense of compassion and warmth and being held and cared for. And after a little while, We come to see who we are when we aren't gripped by the power of the emotion, Who we are when we're not gripped by the situation. So in this space, I invite you to just tune into your own presence and rest in this wakeful and tender space of awareness. No longer feeling imprisoned in any limiting sense of self. Just resting in this wakeful presence.